angel reese

CHICAGO — Bayou Barbie is back in Chicago. With her own Barbie, too.

Angel Reese is playing in her third WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday at the United Center. This time, she is representing Atlanta in her first season with the Dream after a messy split with the Chicago Sky.

“It’s so crazy, full circle,” Reese said, “I’m back here in Chicago, again, where it kind of all started. … Coming to Atlanta, I mean it’s been a dream come true, literally. It’s helped me in so many different ways.”

Reese, 24, is on “Team Coop” for this weekend’s showcase event, alongside Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart. Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and four-time MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces headline “Team Spoon.”

WNBA greats Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon drafted the All-Star teams from players who were either voted as starters by fans, media and fellow players or chosen as reserves by the league’s coaches. Las Vegas’ Becky Hammon is coaching Cooper’s team, and Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve is in charge of Weatherspoon’s squad.

“Honestly I’m just really happy to be here and be surrounded by so many amazing women and All-Stars and Hall of Famers and people that I’ve looked up to my entire life,” Bueckers said. “I never want to take these moments for granted and just really soak it up and enjoy building relationships with people.”

All-Stars Angel Reese, left, and Paige Buekers, right, joke around before practice at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Friday.

(Paul Beaty / Associated Press)

Minnesota guard Olivia Miles, part of “Team Spoon,” is the only rookie picked for the All-Star Game in the WNBA’s 30th season. The No. 2 pick in this year’s draft is averaging 19.3 points and 5.9 assists in 26 games for the Lynx.

“It’s definitely weird being the only rookie, but I know I belong and I’m happy to be here,” Miles said. “It’s an honor. Definitely grateful, and, yeah, just soaking it all in.”

Reese starred at LSU before she was selected by Chicago with the No. 7 pick in the 2024 draft. The 6-foot-4 forward earned the nickname “Bayou Barbie” while helping the Tigers win the 2023 national championship.

Fast forward to Friday, when Mattel unveiled a Reese Barbie doll with a pink Angel No. 5 jersey and special Reebok basketball shoes.

“I remember, I think it’s been three years now, since the Bayou Barbie came about when I was in Baton Rouge, and I used to put Barbie stuff on merch and stuff, and I wasn’t really supposed to,” Reese said. “So I told them I really wanted to have a Barbie doll one day, and to have Barbie is, like, you got to be iconic.”

Reese averaged 14.1 points and 12.9 rebounds over two seasons with Chicago. But the Sky won just 23 games in during that time.

Reese was critical of Chicago’s play at the end of last season. She apologized to the team for her comments and was suspended for the first half of a game against Las Vegas.

She was shipped off to her new home in April, traded to the Dream for two first-round draft picks.

“The double-doubles, they don’t matter unless we’re winning,” Reese said. “So I’m just really happy to be with Atlanta. They have welcomed me with open arms. It feels like a really safe place for me. It’s the safest I’ve ever felt, the most loved I’ve ever felt. And I’m really happy to be with them.”

Atlanta is 16-10 at the break, and Chicago has a 9-18 record. Reese is one of three All-Stars from the Dream, joining Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray.

While Reese is suiting up for “Team Coop,” Howard and Gray are playing for “Team Spoon.” Weatherspoon coached Chicago during Reese’s rookie year.

“I love her. Like you see her, she’s so positive,” Reese said of Weatherspoon. “She comes in every day and just is always just happy. And you just want somebody in your life like that. And she’s a legend. She’s a legend of the game. She’s done a lot of amazing things that I want to do as well.”

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Angel Reese had 23 points and 13 rebounds for her WNBA-leading 16th double-double of the season, Allisha Gray added 20 points, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Sparks 101-92 on Monday night.

Gray made Atlanta’s first field goal of the fourth quarter with 4:07 remaining to tie it at 87. Then, Reese got a friendly roll on her third made three-pointer of the season to make it 90-87 and she added two free throws on the next possession for a five-point lead. Jordin Canada capped the 9-0 run for a 94-87 lead.

Canada finished with 16 points and Rhyne Howard added 11 for Atlanta (14-10), which had lost six of its last seven games. Reese, who missed Saturday’s game against Portland, was seven for 11 from the field and made all eight of her free throws in 32 minutes.

Erica Wheeler scored 20 points, Nneka Ogwumike added 19 and Rae Burrell had 18 for the Sparks (10-12). Cameron Brink (left ankle) missed her eighth straight game and Kelsey Plum (lower left leg) missed her sixth straight.

Up next for Sparks: at Minnesota on Wednesday.

Toronto Tempo forward Isabelle Harrison was tossed from Sunday’s game after committing a hard foul against the Atlanta Dream’s Angel Reese.

Reese had established position in the paint nearly four minutes into the third quarter when she was passed the ball. Harrison reached over and tackled her to the floor. Reese’s teammates immediately jumped in to separate the two players.

The takedown occurred with around 6:05 left in the third quarter, while the Dream were leading 52-42. Officials reviewed the play and Harrison was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for contact that was deemed “unnecessary and excessive” and ejected from the game.

Harrison, who was drafted in 2015, was the leading scorer for the Tempo with 17 points at the time she was tossed. Reese ended the game with 15 points and 17 rebounds in Atlanta’s 102-77 victory. It marks the ninth double-double of the season for the two-time All Star.

WNBA officials have been cracking down on physical play this season after complaints about the level of physicality last year.

Things appeared to get heated between the two former teammates, who crossed paths during Reese’s rookie season with the Chicago Sky, starting in the first half of Sunday’s game at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto. The players could be seen exchanging words throughout their match-up and, at one point during the second quarter, Harrison swatted at the ball being held by Reese after play had already been stopped.

After the game, Tempo coach Sandy Brondello said Harrison’s ejection was “unfortunate” because Harrison was “playing so well.” When asked about what she was hoping to see from her team in their next stretch of games, Brondello mentioned consistency and her players “not getting too high [or] too low.”

“I think sometimes the emotions get the best of us and takes away from how we want to play,” Brondella said.

Dream guard Allisha Gray, who led all scorers with 26 points, praised her teammate after the game.

“Angel’s a beast on the boards,” Gray said. “She does everything that we need to help us win and accomplish our goals for the game. So, I think Angel did really well tonight, keeping her composure and really battling on the boards.”

The Dream (9-4) is currently fourth in league standings, while the Tempo (7-7) sit in ninth place.